Is Germany facilitating genocide in Gaza?
About the Event
In a case filed at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Nicaragua is accusing Germany of facilitating genocide and failing to prevent genocide against the Palestinian people by supporting Israel politically, militarily, and financially, and by suspending its financial support for UNWRA, the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees. This comes after South Africa had brought a genocide case against Israel to the ICJ in late December 2023, and the court's interim order that Israel must do everything to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza and take immediate measures for aid provisions.
Israeli legal expert Avi Weber explains the legal context of the lawsuits filed against Israel and Germany at the ICJ. What is the legal definition of genocide? What are the questions that will guide the court as it conducts its deliberations? What historical precedents are there? What does it mean for Israel and Germany to be accused of genocide when the very word was coined in response to the Nazi-Holocaust against the Jews?
About the Speaker
Dr. iur. Avraham Weber, LL..M, is a lawyer at Weber & Co. specializing in German and European law. Since 2008 he is the consultant to the Ministry for Social Equality chartered by the Israeli government to negotiate with foreign governments for restitution of property and Jewish rights. He holds a double Masters degree in Law, and obtained his PhD at Justus Liebig University Giessen in 2015. He is an adjunct Lecturer at Reichamm University, Israel, Philipps Marburg University, Germany, and a visiting scholar of CUNY Brooklyn college.
As of 2005 Dr.Weber is a board member of the Israeli German chamber of commerce (IHK) and as of 2010 a member founder of the Czech Israeli chamber of commerce. In 2012 he was appointed by the Tel Aviv Bar association to chair the Czech-Tel Aviv lawyers friendship association. As of August 2020 he is a member of the board of the EVZ fund (Erinnerung, Verantwortung, Zukunft - Remembrance, Responsibility, and Future).